So the bare bones, 18 games , won 7, lost 9, 1 abandoned and 1 conceded. We used thirty two players.

Quite a few older players making up the core, a few youngsters in their forties, odd ones first game back then in the upper teams. This was complimented by the introduction of some really excellent youngsters with many of them gaining early promotion to the upper teams.

So everything considered a pretty good return with the ambition of more of these good quality youngsters next season.

Bowling

Led by Couch 20 wickets, best of 4/17. Raj 19 wkts, best 4/44. Young Will Black 13 wkts, best 3/18 and Mick Boyden 11 wkts, best 4/45.

The overall fielding, bearing in mind the age of some of us was really good. Special mention in the field to all three Boydens, Gordon Pratt, Tom Rathborn, Liam Osborne, Sam De Vaux and Henry 'Henners' Hamilton.

Two catches in particular must be mentioned. Whatto a full length dive and Raj plucking an Exocet out of the sky. Also good catches for Tom's, Boyden and Rathborn, Egan Wyer, Mick Boyden and Henry Hamilton.

Four wicket keepers, Vigus, Howard Smith, Andy Rouse and Henners. Catches and stumping a between all of them. Henners did chat the most though!

Special mention for Henners absolutely brilliant run out in the last game, one stump to aim at in front of the first eleven, they were impressed.

Lastly many thanks to Anne Webster who scored for us until stolen by Aaron for the first eleven. Everyone is moving up through the teams except me!

So the final game of the season at home. Our last five games had had three wins, one lose and one abandoned match so we wanted to continue the good work.

The skipper lost the toss and we were put in on a very damp wicket. Bob Lake (12) and Billy Rouse (23) put on 37 for the first wicket in the ninth over. Then a flurry of wickets, Mick Boyden (0), Raj (2), Henry Hamilton (5) unluckily run out and Louis Boyden (3) and we were 63-6.

Tom Boyden (15) working very hard for his runs and then more wickets, Gordon Pratt (0) and Steve Sawko (5) and we were 93-9. A quick burst at the end by Dave Vigus (15 not out) and Martin Couch (10) saw us finish all out on 113.

The wicket was dodgy but it was hard to tell if this was going to be enough when we fielded. Our opening pair Martin Couch (10-1-30-1) and Billy ('my landing foot keeps slipping, more sawdust please!') Rouse (10-4-17-6) got us off to an excellent start and Dartfordians were 37-6 after 13 overs. Billy taking five wickets in his opening spell of six overs.

They were replaced by Raj (6-2-13-0) and Mick 'you bowled a Jaffa dad!') Boyden (6.1-2-16-2) who kept it tight but Dartfordians had got to 79 with no further lose and looked like they were creeping to victory.

What they hadn't realised was you can't take a sharp single in the covers to Henry (not on his arm!) Hamilton. Henry swooped and took aim at one stump from twenty yards, direct hit and they were seven down. Our first eleven were watching and were impressed. Billy took his sixth and Mick Boyden cleaned up.

Good fielding with all the usual suspects, Henry, Gordon, Steve Sawko, all three Boydens and Dave behind the stumps. Catches for Tom Boyden and Steve. Good match, excellent spirit from both teams.

The fours won the toss and surprisingly decided to bowl on an extremely hot day. The skipper had decided to bowl as tightly as possible at the start with his two stalwarts of the the fours, Martin Couch 10-5-7-1 and Raj Raghaven 10-5-11-1. This was an exceptional start and at the drinks break Bexley were 20-2 after twenty overs.

Bexley had some really good young stars of the future and they went for our bowlers. They also tested our fielders with sharp singles. In the period after drinks it must be said our fielding dipped and there were some missed chances. Abishek was one exception as were Mick Boyden, Steve Sawko, Russell Egan Wyer and Graham Johnson. Dave Vigus tidy behind the stumps. But they always are!

The bowlers Steve Sawko 8-0-42-1, Mick Boyden 9-0-45-4 and Abishek 3-0-25-0 were not helped by the drop in performance in the field. Must improve!!

So chasing 139 to win. A solid start Abishek (28) In good time, Steve Smith (32) took a while to get going. Russell (0) got a good one first up. Mark 'Whatto' Watson (57) in 41 balls really took the game away from the oppo. Graham 'Actore' Johnson (8 not out) and Bob Lake (5 not out) seeing us home with five and half overs to spare so a good performance.

This was such an improvement on last weeks poor defeat. Four youngsters improved the ground fielding. Tom and Louis Boyden, Sam De Vaux doing great work . But the star in the covers was Henry Hamilton. He stopped absolutely everything.The old timers didn't do so badly in the catching department though. Only one dropped catch, unlucky H a running diving tumble that got seven marks for artistic merit!The catches got better as each one was taken. Catches for Bob Lake, Howard, an excellent one in the deep for Russell Egan Wyer, a nonchalant one handed Mick Boyden effort, then two to Whatto, the second a spectacular diving catch. Coupled with a stumping by H an excellent effort.Many times the OE's batter threatened to take the game away but all four bowlers put in good spells. Martin Couch 10-2-32-2, Mick Boyden 10-2-19-2, Sam De Vaux 9.4-1-34-1 and the chief wicket taker Steve Sawko 10-1-42-5. Steve's first two overs went for twenty runs so excellent bowling and his first fifer for the OD's.So chasing 140 to win we needed a steady start and that is what we got. Mark 'Whatto' (25) and Sam De Vaux (46) put on 45 for the first wicket with good batting and excellent running. Russell Egan Wyer (3) an unlucky LBW and Henry Hamilton (1) got a good one.Enter the Boyden brothers to see us home. Tom (28 not out) and Louis (14 not out) batted sensibly and saw us home with just over three overs left. Twenty points in the bag!

The skipper thought he had a strong fours team out and was going to bat if he won the toss. He lost the toss but was put in so still on track. Gravesend were sitting second so we were under the cosh.Another new opening partnership Steve Smith (70 not out) and Sam De Vaux (41) were unbeaten on 88 at the drinks break. Unfortunately when young Sam was out we seemed to lose a bit of momentum. The other. Batters, Robin East (8), Russ Egan Wyer (2) and Actore (11) tried hard but 148 - 3 was good but perhaps we missed a few.So now down to the bowlers. Martin Couch 4-19, Will Black 3-27 and Raj 3-19 were all we needed and the game was done in the 21st over.The fielding was excellent, H behind the stumps and Steve Sawko standing out. Martin Couch took a good caught and bowled, Sam took a good catch off Will but the champagne moment was Raj taking an absolutely stunning catch at square leg. Not only was the shot all over a four but Raj stuck out his left hand and it stuck. He normally only takes catches off his own bowling!Sam And Will are from our under 13's and both performed really well. A good performance against a nice bunch of blokes and roll on next week.

So we won the toss and on a hot afternoon against the team leading the league by a country mile the skipper decided to bat first. To be fair their bowlers were so good it wouldn't have mattered either way!

Russell Egan Wyer (23) and Howard (17) were this weeks opening partnership and against an excellent opening pair they did well. All of the batsmen batted well against quality bowlers and Sawko (4), Tom Boyden (2), Will Black (1), Dave Vigus (2), Gordon Pratt (4), Bob (13), Louis Boyden, on debut, (4), Mick Boyden (15 not out) and Martin Couch (5 not out) were up against the best bowling attack in our division.

The fielding was excellent with three Boyden's and Gordon Pratt and Dave Vigus behind the stumps being the stand outs. No dropped catches and catches for Mick Boyden and Gordon Pratt being the highlights.

So once again we had eleven and as the three teams above all won a great weekend for the club.

On a very hot day the skipper won the toss and put the oppo in. Probably not a great choice but the bowlers and fielders kept at it and did a really good job.

We had over sixty years age difference between our opening bowlers and both Martin Couch. (1 - 35) and young William Black (2 - 37) bowled well. The number four for Bexleyheath decided to smash 41 in only 22 balls but Will got him in his second spell.

The other three bowlers all did well, Raj (1 - 46), Mick Boyden (0 - 23) and Russell Egan Wyer (2 - 35).Fielding was good with catches foe Dave Vigus, Bob Lake and 'H' and no dropped catches! The stand out fielders were again Gordon Pratt and Mick and Tom Boyden.

When we batted Russell (1) got one that reared up and he gloved to the keeper. Then a steady stand of 79 between Steve Smith (72) and Dave Vigus (14) against good bowling kept us in it. An excellent knock from Tom Boyden (25) who scored quickly but perished in the chase to get ten an over. As did the rest of us, Will Black (4), Bob (5) and Gordon Pratt. When the chase became impossible Mick Boyden (8 not out) and Raj (0 not out) batted out the last two overs.

We were up against a strong HSBC and although beaten comprehensively put up a good performance. We had two over seventies, four over sixties, one over fifty and four very good colts who all acquitted themselves well.

Losing the toss we were put in. Stephen Smith (43) well struck runs and Graham 'Actore' Johnson (7). Set us away. Russell Egan-Wyer (9) followed by a quick scoring Tom Boyden (14). Harry Deans (3) was unlucky with a direct hit. Henry Hamilton (19) batting well was unlucky to be beaten by their good leg spinner.

Will Black (4) run out in the quest for runs. Steve Sawko (2) stumped charging the leggie! Howard (no quick singles!) Smith, (1) beaten LBW by a straight one. Bob Lake (18 not out) and Martin Couch (0 not out) preventing the oppo getting full points. 146 against a strong bowling unit was good.

Unfortunately the HSBC skipper decided to chance his arm and finished on seventy not out. All of the bowlers did well. Couch 1-23, Harry Deans 2-46, Will Black 0-22 were the pick. Egan Wyer 0-23, Steve Sawko 0-20 and Tom Boyden 0-4 taking some stick from their skipper.

No dropped catches. A catch each for H and Bob and only ten byes and the fielding never wilted. Hopefully we will be able to get out a team next week.

This was a must win game for the 4's and with a good mixture of young and old they delivered.The skipper lost the toss but got the chance to bowl which was what he wanted! Why bother with that long walk to the middle?Martin Couch as ever gave runs away to all parts and finished with the disappointing figures of 10-7-3-3. !! Elliott Avis did likewise and in two spells his final figures of 10-5-12-3, which were excellent. Replacing Elliott at the ten over mark for was Harry Deans. He decided to be as frugal as the other two and 10-3-17-3 were figures to be proud of.

Two bowlers shared the last ten overs, Mick Boyden 5-3-11-0 and Steve Sawko 5-1-15-0. Both unlucky not to get the final wicket.The fielding was the best I have see this season in the fours, benefitting from our younger players. Tom Boyden led the way with the first two catches. Behind the stumps Henry Hamilton was very tidy and pushed 'twice his size' Tom Rathborn out of the way to take a high catch. This must have inspired Tom who then took a stunning catch. Not so sure the slide on the artificial wicket did his knee any good, but an excellent. Harry Deans then took a good catch high up which he made look easy.

So the only disappointment was not taking the final wicket but going into tea the task looked comfortable. The skipper told the openers to take their time but with 18 required a heavy downfall of rain looked like stopping us short. After the resumption the batters didn't mess about!

All of the batsmen contributed Parker (10), Rathborn (4), Robin East (29 not out), Tom Boyden a quick fire (12) and Harry Deans (5). Robin finished in a hurry with two fours in a row to wrap up a good win against very friendly opposition who had more younger players than us which is unusual.

The fourth eleven travelled to the new Elthamians ground and were impressed by the facilities. Mind you the long walk to the playing area for the forth team probably tired us out more than them! Our bowlers bowled really well as their figures show.Mick Boyden. 10-2-27-1, Russell Egan-Wyer. 6-2-19-1, Raj 10-1-44-4, Steve. Sawko 5-1-10-0, Parkerman 4-0-22-0, Actore 5-0-18-1.The bowlers were aided by excellent fielding with catches by Dave Vigus and an absolute stunner by The Actore which included a dive!In the out field there was tremendous work by Henry Hamilton and Howard Smith at mid on and mid off. In the covers Tom Rathborn absent for some four years showed what advantages we could gain if he could return to the club on a regular basis.So we were chasing a victory target of 151. Wicket tumbled at regular intervals and we never got to grips with the wicket. Scores of Johnson (4), Bob Lake (63 not out), Vigus (13) and Sawko (7) got us close but we were short of the target and had five overs to spare.What was really good was that the team spirit was superbly high and when the uni boys are back soon the performances will improve.

After winning the toss, skipper Parker chose to bowl this week. Opening up with Will Black and Dan Brown with Raj sharing the top end with Will, we had the very best of starts with Streatham & Marlborough being reduced to 30-6 off 14 overs.

Tom Haagensen then came to the crease and hit his first ball for four even though it seemed a good delivery. He then batted very well, dispatching any loose delivery while treating the good balls with respect. The bowlers continued to hit a decent line and length with the visitors reaching about 50 at drinks.

The second 20 overs were dominated by Haagensen's batting where he hit anything slightly loose without giving a chance. Our bowlers stuck to their tasks, chipping away with wickets at the other end, but the visitors reached a total of 178, mainly due to the fine 97* by Haagensen.

Our reply started with the S&M bowlers immediately hitting a good line and length. Parker, Egan-W, Johnson and Brown departed before the score had got past twenty. Vigus then rose to his elevated number five position to bat out the remaining overs for a fine 43 not out. Raj and Steve Sawko chipped in with a few runs near the end to get us to 121 for 4 batting bonus points.

This was one of those days when we totally dominated the first quarter of the game only for one player to take the game away from us. He batted very well. Raj and Steve Sawko batted very well with Vigus at the end of our innings to earn us eight bonus points in total. One of those days.

After a very fraught week selection wise, eleven players ventured out to Kent, made up of the stand in skipper, the chairman of selectors, four thirteen year olds, a brand new (to us) player, a parent (son preparing for GCSEs), two regular bowlers and Mr Egan-Wyer.

The skipper was still feeling the effects of all the Clubmark and league registration work through the week as he won the toss and batted. The Gravesend rugby club opening bowlers kept it tight and removed Parker and Henry before the innings really got started. Russ E-W and Sam de Vaux then batted very well to rebuild the innings before Russ ran himself out just after drinks.

Sam continued and finished with a very good 43 on his senior debut. The remaining bats made a good attempt at increasing the run rate with Rousey, Joe East, Gordon Pratt, Will Black and new boy Steve Sawko helping us to 104-7 from our 40 overs. Not a great total in normal circumstances but a good effort after the challenges faced with fielding a side.

After a splendid tea, our new ball attack had a gap of 63 years between their ages. Couchy was his usual self with figures of 10-4-17-4. The skipper claiming assists for two of those wickets with inspired fielding positions and Henry took another of his spectacular catches. Will B bowled very well from the other end and deservedly got the opposition opener out in his second spell.

Raj finally got his hands on a newish ball and soon found his usual range. Joe replaced Couchy after drinks and kept bowling his left arm spin accurately despite learning that the batsmen in adult cricket hit the ball a bit harder than in under 13s. He persevered, though, and found the edge of the bat but the chance went astray. Eventually he got a deserved wicket when he beat the advancing top scorer and Rousey took the stumping.

Despite losing by four wickets, the skipper and chairman of selectors were very encouraged by the performance with all four youngsters contributing very well. A very enjoyable game and had all the chances gone to hand, who knows?

When Andy Parker got a call on the way to the ground advising him the Fourth Eleven skipper was unable to play he became somewhat concerned about fielding with 10 men. He needn’t have bothered as with our four outstanding Colts fielding like boys possessed it seemed at times we had 12 men. Apart from the outrageous luxury of two slips with ten men and Russell’s somewhat eccentric throwing in things went well. Henry Hamilton and Tom Boyden held two stunning catches, the stand in skipper snaffled one at slip and D Vigus Esq took a good stumping.The bowling was of a good standard with Harry Deans opening spell against two gnarled openers particularly good. Sadly he didn’t get the reward he deserved. He and Mick Boyden, 1 wicket contained the openers and William Black took over and finished with 3 well deserved wickets. Russell added a bit of pace and got a couple and once Raj dismissed their University chap who was playing well below his ability he finished with four wickets and they were 150 all out with us getting an extra over.Sadly our batting didn’t quite match up to our bowling and fielding but in our defence their University chap who was still playing well below his ability was very sharp indeed for 4th eleven cricket. However Henry Hamilton batted beautifully against him and finished with 22 and Will got a dozen. Our young chaps are enormously talented but must learn not to try to score a run off every ball. We finished with 109 all out with Raj, 11 and D Vigus Esq 10 being the only others to reach double figures.The future looks bright with our Colts we just need more and more people to become available.

First game of the season a friendly against The School at their Catford Bridge Ground. They have done marvels with the wicket improving it ten fold. It was slightly disconcerting that they have had to erect a six foot fence around the ground and employ a large team of security guards 24/7! Perhaps our reputation preceded us or they thought Nick Worsley was playing!

The School decided that it would be a timed game so the only thing your writer had to do was win the toss and bat. He called incorrectly so that was that.

Their top order were good, a few Beckenham players in their ranks. We opened with Billy Rouse who had an early dropped catch off of one opener and Russell Egan Wyer had the other opener dropped on one. Luckily for us he only added another 103 to his one and finished not out!

We had three debutants, Chad Spencer, Elliott Avis and young Henry Hamilton who this skipper proceeded to call William every other go!

So unluckily no wickets for our opening pair who were then followed by Calum Hider and Dan Brown. Both bowled well getting a wicket each in that spell.

Our next pair of bowlers were the debutants Elliott and Chad. Elliott had a nervous start but soon settled into his spell and his figures after that first over were good, clean bowling one of their top order and 5 - 0 - 30 -1 were good figures.

Chad 'I haven't played for eight years!' Decided to take a wicket with a full toss on his first ball for eight years.

The School declared at tea on 188-8 after 40 overs. All of the six bowlers contributed. Billy probably being the most unlucky and all the runs off him were mostly quick edges down through third man. So the bowling figures Billy 10-0-54-1, Russell 5-1-14-0 (his one over second spell causing the loudest creaking ever heard!), Brownie 7-0-23-2, Calum 9-048-2, Elliott 5-0-30-1 and Chad 3-0-12-1.

The field was excellent throughout but special mention to Luke Hunter, Elliott, Henry, Calum and Brownie plus Russell's diving stops. Also Stephen Smith taking an absolute wonder catch, diving forward with just his left hand. Everybody was stunned but normal service was resumed a few overs later when he dropped a dolly!

I must also mention the run out which started with excellent work from Calum to Chad who had one batter at his end and one half down so a quick throw to Andy Rouse and the wicket was ours.

After teawe had two hours of batting with twenty overs in the last hour, we received 36 overs so four short of them. Our openers Stephen (73) and Luke (29) put on 87 for the first wicket which was excellent. Stephen was in good touch from the start but Luke was struggling to get going but it was his first knock.

So enter Billy who hit 19 in 11 balls to get us back going. It was a shame in the circumstances that he had to hit out instead of be able to pace his innings. Next in Rousey, so like father like son he hit 21 but in his first innings of the season there was some playing and missing but included a thumped six over mid off.

Chad ' I haven't played for eight years' was next up and his running with Henry was outrageous but enjoyable and good to see. They both perished late on, Chad stumped closer to the bowler than the keeper.

The not out batsman was Calum with four off the two balls he faced.

So a draw but would have been a win with level overs but an enjoyable way to restart the season.